Maria.Luengo-Prado@bos.frb.org
Personal Website
Biography
María José Luengo-Prado is a senior economist and policy advisor in the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department. Her research interests include macroeconomics and public economics. Most of her research to date has focused on understanding households' consumption and saving decisions under uncertainty and the effect of these decisions on the broader economy. She is particularly interested in the dual role of housing as consumption and savings. Her work has examined, for example, the impact of lower down payments and house price changes on consumption volatility, the role of housing in explaining the wealth distribution, and the relationship between home equity and mobility. Luengo-Prado has also written on the use of vouchers to improve education, the relationship between education and risk aversion, and the effects of financial literacy on credit access and credit use. Some of her recent work focuses on labor force participation issues related to the pandemic as well as the effects of minimum wage changes on spending and access to credit. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as AEJ:Macro, the Economic Journal, the International Economic Review, the Journal of Monetary Economics, Quantitative Economics, the Review of Economic Dynamics, and the Review of Economics and Statistics.
Prior to joining the Boston Fed, Luengo-Prado was on the faculty at Northeastern University (associate professor with tenure) and Universidad Carlos III (assistant professor). She holds a PhD in economics from Brown University, an MA in economics from the KU Leuven in Belgium, and a BSc in economics from the University of Salamanca in Spain.
Work Experience
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Senior Economist and Policy Advisor, 2015–
Senior Economist, 2014–2015
Visiting Scholar, 2013–2014
Visiting Scholar, New England Public Policy Center, 2008–2009
Northeastern University Department of Economics
Associate Professor (with tenure), 2008–2016
Assistant Professor, 2002–2008
IMDEA Social Sciences
Visiting Senior Research Fellow, 2010
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Department of Economics
Assistant Professor, 2000–2002
Education
PhD, Economics, Brown University, 2000
MSc, Economics, KU Leuven, Belgium, 1996
Licenciatura, Economics, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain, 1994
Public Service
Associate Editor, Economics and Business Letters
Referee: AEJ: Economic Policy, American Economic Review, Economic Inquiry, Economic Notes, Economica, European Economic Review, Food Policy, International Economic Review, International Tax and Public Finance, Investigaciones Economicas, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Business and Economics Statistics, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Journal of the European Economic Association, Journal of Health Economics, Journal of Housing Economics, Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, Journal of Macroeconomics, Journal of Monetary Economics, Macroeconomics Dynamics, NSF, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Review of Economic Dynamics, Review of Economics of the Household, Revista de Economia Aplicada, Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Scienze Regionali, SERIEs, Southern Economic Journal, Spanish Economic Review
Scientific committee member for the Spanish Economic Association Conference, 2010, 2011, and 2012
Committee member for doctoral students at Northeastern University: Ceren Ertan (placement: the Sage Colleges), Zhi Su (placement: Capital University of Economics and Business), Rand Ghayad (placement: the Brattle Group), and Mark Gooley (in progress)
External thesis committee member for Dmytro Hryshko (University of Houston, 2006), Enzo Cerletti (CEMFI, 2012), Wided Hmissi (University of Houston, 2012), Wen Long (University of Houston, 2015), Frank Cheng (Stony Brook, 2016)
Publications
Refereed journal articles
“Consumption, Credit, and the Missing Young,” with Daniel Cooper and Olga Gorbachev. Forthcoming. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking.
“Monetary Policy and Regional House-Price Appreciation,” with Daniel H. Cooper and Giovanni Olivei. Forthcoming. International Journal of Central Banking.
“Selective Bargain Hunting: A Concise Test of Rational Consumer Search,” with Chloe Lee, Wen Long, and Bent E. Sørensen. 2021. Economic Inquiry 59(3): 1089–1105. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12970
“The Local Aggregate Effect of Minimum Wage Increases,” with Daniel Cooper and Jonathan A. Parker. 2020. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 52(1): 5–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmcb.12684
"The Local Aggregate Effects of Minimum Wage Increases," with Daniel Cooper and Jonathan A. Parker. 2020. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking.
“The Credit Card Debt Puzzle: The Role of Preferences, Credit Risk, and Financial Literacy,” with Olga Gorbachev. 2019. Review of Economics and Statistics 101(2): 294–309. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00752
“The Rise and Fall of Consumption in the 2000s: A Tangled Tale,” with Yuliya Demyanyk, Dmytro Hryshko, and Bent E. Sørensen. 2019. Economica 86(343): 495–531. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecca.12272
“Household Formation over Time: Evidence from Two Cohorts of Young Adults,” with Daniel Cooper. 2018. Journal of Housing Economics 41(2018): 106–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhe.2018.06.002
“Sectoral Inflation and the Phillips Curve: What Has Changed since the Great Recession?” with Nikhil Rao and Viacheslav Sheremirov. 2018. Economics Letters 172: 63–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2018.08.016
"Moving to a Job: The Role of Home Equity, Debt, and Access to Credit," with Y. Demyanyk, D. Hryshko, and B. Sorensen. 2017. AEJ: Macroeconomics 9(2): 149–181.
"House Price Growth When Children Are Teenagers: A Path to Higher Earnings?" with Daniel Cooper. 2015. Journal of Urban Economics 86: 54–72.
"Time to Cook: Expenditure at Retirement in Spain," with Almudena Sevilla-Sanz. 2013. The Economic Journal 123(569): 764–789.
"The Effect of Education on Risky Equity Holdings," with Dmytro Hryshko and Bent Sorensen. 2012. BE Journal of Economics Analysis & Policy (Contributions) 12(1): article 10.
"Childhood Determinants of Risk Aversion: The Long Shadow of Compulsory Education," with Dmytro Hryshko and Bent Sorensen. 2011. Quantitative Economics 2(1): 37–72.
"House Prices and Risk Sharing," with Dmytro Hryshko and Bent Sorensen. 2010. Journal of Monetary Economics 57(8): 975–987.
"The Wealth Distribution with Durable Goods," with Antonia Díaz. 2010. International Economic Review 51(1): 143–170.
"On the User Cost and Homeownership," with Antonia Díaz. 2008. Review of Economic Dynamics 11(3): 584–613.
"What Can Explain Excess Smoothness and Sensitivity of State-Level Consumption?" with Bent Sorensen. 2008. Review of Economics and Statistics 90(1): 65–80.
"Durables, Nondurables, Down Payments and Consumption Excesses." 2006. Journal of Monetary Economics. 53(1): 1509–1539.
"Consumption and Aggregate Constraints: International Evidence," with Joseph DeJuan. 2006. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 68(1): 81–99.
"The Impact of Passenger Mix on Reported 'Hub Premiums' in the U.S. Airline Industry," with Darin Lee. 2005. Southern Economic Journal 72(2): 372–394.
"Quality Competition in the U.S. Airline Industry: Are Passengers Willing to Pay More for Additional Legroom?" with Darin Lee. 2004. Journal of Air Transport Management 10(6): 377–383.
"Public Education, Communities and Vouchers," with Oscar Volij. 2003. Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance 43(1): 51–73.
Book Chapters
"The User Cost, Home Ownership and Housing Prices: Theory and Evidence from the US," with Antonia Díaz in The International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home, eds. S.J. Smith, M. Elsinga, L. Fox-O'Mahony, S.E. Ong, and S. Wachter. 2012. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
"Homeownership: Economic Benefits," with Antonia Díaz in The International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home, eds. S.J. Smith, M. Elsinga, L. Fox-O'Mahony, S.E. Ong, and S. Wachter. 2012. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
"A Penny Saved is Mobility Earned: Advancing Economic Mobility through Savings," with Reid Cramer, Rourke O'Brien, and Daniel Cooper. 2009. A Report for PEW's Economic Mobility Project.
"Comparative Service Consumption in Six Countries," with A. Kalwij, S. Machin, L. Blow, M. van Deelen, F. Gardes, J. Ruiz-Castillo, J. Schmitt, and C. Starzec in Services and Employment: Explaining the U.S.-European Gap, eds. W. Salverda, R. Schettkat, and M. Gregory. 2007. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Working Papers
“Population Aging and the US Labor Force Participation Rate,” with Daniel H. Cooper, Christopher L. Foote, and Giovanni P. Olivei. 2021. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Current Policy Perspectives. December 20, 2021.
“The Mortgage Cash Flow Channel of Monetary Policy Transmission: A Tale of Two Countries,” with Daniel Cooper and Vaishali Garga. 2021. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 21-8. https://doi.org/10.29412/res.wp.2021.08
“COVID-19 and the Labor Market Outcomes for Prime-Aged Women.” 2021. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Current Policy Perspectives. April 14, 2021.
“The Roles of Mobility and Masks in the Spread of COVID-19,” with Daniel Cooper, Vaishali Garga, and Jenny Tang. 2020. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Current Policy Perspectives. December 18, 2020.
“Consumption, Credit, and the Missing Young,” with Daniel Cooper and Olga Gorbachev. 2019. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 19-10.
"A Concise Test of Rational Consumer Search," with Chloe Lee and Bent E. Sørensen. 2017. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 18-4.
"The Local Aggregate Effects of Minimum Wage Increases," with Daniel Cooper and Jonathan A. Parker. 2017. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 17-8. Revised in 2019.
"Sectoral Inflation and the Phillips Curve: What Has Changed since the Great Recession?" with Nikhil Rao and Viacheslav Sheremirov. 2017. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Current Policy Perspectives No. 17-5.
"Monetary Policy and Regional House-Price Appreciation," with Daniel Cooper and Giovanni P. Olivei. 2016. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 16-18.
"Household Formation Over Time: Evidence from Two Cohorts of Young Adults," with Daniel Cooper. 2016. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 16-17.
"The Credit Card Debt Puzzle: The Role of Preferences, Credit Risk, and Financial Literacy," with Olga Gorbachev. 2016. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 16-6.
"The Credit Card Debt Puzzle: The Role of Preferences, Credit Risk, and Financial Literacy," with Olga Gorbachev. 2016. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 16-6.
"Moving to a New Job: The Role of Home Equity, Debt, and Access to Credit," with Yuliya Demyanyk, Dmytro Hryshko, and Bent E. Sørensen. 2016. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 16-1.
"Household Formation Over Time: Evidence from Two Cohorts of Young Adults," with Daniel Cooper. 2015. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Current Policy Perspectives No. 15-4.
"The Rise and Fall of Consumption in the '00s," with Yuliya Demyanyk, Dmytro Hryshko, and Bent Sørensen. 2015. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 15-12.
"House Price Growth When Children Are Teenagers: A Path to Higher Earnings?" with Daniel Cooper. 2014. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Current Policy Perspectives No. 14-13.
"Labor Market Exit and Re-Entry: Is the United States Poised for a Rebound in the Labor Force Participation Rate?" with Daniel Cooper. 2014. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Current Policy Perspectives 14-2.